The Day Of China's Junk Is Passing

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 153, 29 June 1940, Page 2 (Supplement)

The Day Of China's Junk Is Passing

By--Hallett Abend i

EXCEPT for one man's personal interest and expansive hobby, many of the centuries-old secrets of Chinese junk building might be lost to posterity. Japanese airplanes and' navy craft have mercilessly destroyed tens of thousands of China's seagoing junks. The British Crown Colony of Hongkong alone reports that more than 6000 licensed junks have vanished from the seas. Economic conditions nml the invasion of Chinese coastal waf-ors by faster i!tisnliiiG;etigin<!<l junks and small cargo vessels make it. almost a certainty that, (ho sea-goinj,' fleet of Chinese junks will never bo rebuilt. lint, thanks to Iho hobby of Sir Frederick Jin Inspector(lenenil of tho' Chinese Maritime, Customs, the Science Museum of South Kensington, London, to-day owns n liingnlHcout series of beautiful scale models of Chinese, junto and sampans, These models, rnnjjinj; In length, from six foot, to more than leu foot, will preserve for tho future tho types of sail, injf craft peculiar t« the waters of China. A dupllmle of one or these models is In the United Stales, Sir I'rottolefe liad it liitlll; at, the reipiesl,' of T. V, Knniiir. (lieu Chinese Minister of finance, and Mr, Soomk present oil II l« President llonscvell, after his trip to the United States lit lu.'l.'l, I'lesumalily this model will eventually tlml a permanent place in tint Koosevelt. archive* Imlldlm? at ll.vda .Park, ; All of Sir Frederick")! model* were' built, In Olilnn, by CUltiM* omfUtuon,

and since they are on a large scale it lias boon possible to reproduce in accurate, detail minutiae of hull, rigging, equipment and decoration. >' • slost .people who have never been to; China imagine that Chinese junks' are' clumsy, slow craft, of no very • groat sir.o, and incapable of any real speed. The, contrary is true. Chiufsc junks have real beauty and grace, are excellently, seaworthy and attain splendid speed. When Marco .Volo came to China

from Venice, seagoing junks made regular trips around what is 'now- Singapore, skirted India, and even reached the ports of Arabia. 1 The Chinese *were far in advance of the peoples of Europe and.' America in shipbuilding innovations like the '. subdivision into compartments by watertight bulkheads; self-reefing "battened sails; multiple sheets which trim the upper as well as the lower part of a ; sail, and the use" of lee boards, most" frequently in the form of a long rudder lowered or raised by means of a winch. ■-, Coastal topography has played a large part in the evolution of Chinese seagoing junks. Those used along • the northern coasts usually have a bluff bow ' and a flat bottom, because most northern port* are situated up muddy tidal rivers where groundings are frequent. - The South China junks, however, are used where fine deep-water harbours are the rule, and rivers few. Consequently the southern junks have a' sharper ■ bow, liner lines., and a much deeper draught. Most of the seagoing junks, regardless of their ports of origin, carry oldfashioned cannon, essential as protection against pirates. All the junks have "eyes" painted on cither side of the bow. Tho eyes of cargo junks are focused ahead, while the eyes of fishing junks slant downward and seem to peer into the sea. The great Shantung junks still carry cargo from Chefoo rind Tsingtao to •Shanghai, bringing from 400 to 600 tons of cargo . each . trip. While : modem \ steamers make the trip from Shanghai to Tsingtao in 2-J hours,- the junks re- • quire" from six to 20 days, according to tho prevailing winds.